Paharganj Holi incident: Japanese woman breaks silence after leaving India
The Japanese woman, reportedly harassed by a group of boys on Holi in Delhi's Paharganj on Wednesday, finally broke her silence on the incident through a series of posts on Twitter. A rough translation of her tweets in Japanese reportedly showed that the woman called the incident "unfortunate" and revealed that she took part in the festival celebrations with 35 of her friends.
Why does this story matter?
- The victim's tweets came after the Delhi Police apprehended three people after a video of the incident went viral, showing a gang of boys forcefully smearing colors on her and allegedly groping and harassing her.
- The clip triggered a massive outrage across India, with netizens also pointing out the irony that the incident happened on International Women's Day, coinciding with Holi this year.
I was terrified; so I deleted tweet: Woman
Revealing the reason why she had deleted her previous post on the incident, the woman tweeted in Japanese on Saturday, "On March 9, I tweeted a video of the Indian festival Holi." "Aafter that, the number of RTs and DMs increased more than I had imagined, and I was terrified, so I deleted the tweet," she added.
Twitter post by Japanese victim woman
3月9日にインドのお祭り「ホーリー」中の動画をツイートしましたが、その後想像以上にRTやDMが増えて恐怖を覚え、ツイートを削除させていただきました。
— 🇮🇳めぐみこ (@megumiko_india) March 11, 2023
動画を見て気分を害された方におかれましては、誠に申し訳ございません。
Japanese woman talks about her Holi experience
Furthermore, the victim woman tweeted in Japanese, "I had heard that it was very dangerous for a woman to go out alone during the daytime at the Holi festival, an Indian festival that I participated in, so I participated in the event with a total of 35 other friends." "Unfortunately, this kind of situation happened," she added.
Hope harassment decreases during next Holi: Victim
Even though the victim is yet to file an official complaint, the Delhi Police has already taken note of the incident after the video went viral on social media. She also revealed that the police "promised to strengthen their crackdown" and even expressed hope that "harassment against women" will significantly decrease at the Holi festivities from next year onward.
Woman expresses her love for India
Meanwhile, the Japanese woman also praised India and stated that she loves everything about the country. "I love everything about India, I have been there many times... It's a wonderful country that you can't hate even if you receive this incident (sic)," she remarked. She concluded her long post on Twitter by saying that Japan and India will always remain Tomodachi (friends).
Details on Paharganj Holi incident
In the viral video, one of the accused can be seen smashing an egg on the head of the Japanese woman while others smear color on her face, allegedly against her will. The victim can also be heard saying "bye-bye" as she tries to escape the situation. However, when one of the accused touches her again, she slaps him and leaves.
Minor among 3 held for harassing woman
Following the incident, the police reportedly arrested three people, including a minor, last week. Speaking to the news agency PTI, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Delhi) Sanjay Kumar Sain revealed that the accused admitted to the crime, and added that the clip from the incident was also being analyzed to establish specific elements.
